It's the Mother of All Reading Weekends!

Every once in awhile I find new bloggers on my favorite topic, YA and Children's Books, and I get a warm fuzzy. I've got more than a warm fuzzy now, I've got The Mother of All Challenges for a book reading/reviewing extravaganza. (Yes, I, too, am prone to hyperbole. I even like spelling the word. Wheee!) How many books can you read and review in 48 hours?! Game to find out? Some of the participants are professional reviewers, ALA types, junior librarians, etc., and your honor as a complete weekend slacker and constant-reader-of-YA-novels-while-eating-in-bed is at stake. The person who started this thinks she can read/review, count 'em, 40. Four-Oh. Are you in?

Final rules and information will be available on Thursday, June 15th, and then it's on. And here's a review of the rules so far:

The weekend is June 16–18th, 2006. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the 15th and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.

The books should be about fourth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play.

It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it (but don’t stand next to me). If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.

The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review.

For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. When you write your final summary on Monday, let that be the last thing you write that day, so for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.

Your final summary should be posted online after 8:00 on Monday morning, even if you finished your 48 hours on Sunday. Include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading, and any other comments you want to make on the experience.

Hit the link here to sign up, and start stockpiling food in your bedroom. Good luck!